The Underground Railroad eBook

ESTEEMED FRIEND:—­WILLIAM
STILL:—­I have information of 6 able-bodied
men that are expected here to-morrow morning; they
may, to-morrow afternoon or evening, take the cars
at Chester, and most likely reach the city between
11 and 12 at night; they will be accompanied by
a colored man that has lived in Philadelphia and
is free; they may think it safer to walk to the city
than to go in the cars, but for fear of accident it
may be best to have some one at the cars to look
out for them. I have not seen them yet, and
cannot certainly judge what will be best. I
gave a man 3 dollars to bring those men 15 miles to-night,
and I have been two miles in the country this
afternoon, and gave a colored man 2 dollars to
get provisions to feed them. Hoping all will
be right, I remain thy friend,

HUMANITAS.

Arriving as usual in due time these fugitives were
examined, and all found to be extra field hands.

Plymouth was forty-two years of age, of a light chestnut
color, with keen eyes, and a good countenance, and
withal possessed of shrewdness enough to lead double
the number that accompanied him. He had a strong
desire to learn to read, but there was no possible
way of his gaining the light; this he felt to be a
great drawback.

The name of the man who had made merchandise of Plymouth
was Nat Horsey, of Horsey’s Cross Roads.
The most striking characteristic in Horsey’s
character, according to Plymouth’s idea was,
that he was very “hard to please, did not know
when a slave did enough, had no idea that they could
get tired or that they needed any privileges.”
He was the owner of six slaves, was engaged in farming
and mercantile pursuits, and the postmaster of the
borough in which he lived.

When Plymouth parted with his wife with a “full
heart,” he bade her good-night, without intimating
to her that he never expected to see her again in
this world; she evidently supposed that he was going
home to his master’s place as usual, but instead
he was leaving his companion and three children to
wear the yoke as hitherto. He sympathized with
them deeply, but felt that he could render them no
real good by remaining; he could neither live with
his wife nor could he have any command over one of
his children. Slavery demanded all, but allowed
nothing.

Notwithstanding, Plymouth admitted that he had been
treated even more favorably than most slaves.
The family thus bound consisted of his wife Jane,
and four children, as follows: Dorsey, William
Francis, Mary Ellen, and baby.

Horatio was a little in advance of Plymouth in years,
being forty-four years of age. His physical outlines
gave him a commanding appearance for one who had worn
the yoke as he had for so many years. He was of
a yellow complexion, and very tall.

As a slave laborer he had been sweating and toiling
to enrich a man by the name of Thomas J. Hodgson,
a farmer on a large scale, and owning about a dozen
slaves.